I'll Be Here For You
by Winchestergirl67
Summary: Sisfic, Dean gets an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night, and she has some unexpected news.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't often that Dean Winchester would get a knock on the door of his motel room in the middle of the night. In fact, it was something that he couldn't remember happening to him once in the three years that he had been hunting alone. Since there wasn't a little brother or sister around anymore to forget their room key or to stumble back in from a bar at some stupid hour of the morning, there hadn't been any disturbance at all. Once everything had died down, when there was no major monsters that needed hunting, when there was no end of world situations or life threatening problems, Sam and Sara had left.

His brother, Sam, had once again left the life. He had taken another shot at college and gotten himself a place over there. He had found himself a girl and, as far as Dean knew, things were going good for him. His sister, Sara, had also met someone. She had met a guy on the job, an ex-hunter, and gotten married, the last thing that Dean had ever expected her to do. She had left the hunting career behind her to move away and live her new perfect life with her husband. And honestly, Dean couldn't have been happier for either of them.

Hunting was in Dean's blood, it was a part of him, it was all he had ever known and all he expected he would ever know. But, for his siblings, he wanted more. He wanted them to be able to live a normal and happy life, he wanted them to be safe, to be away from all the evil and pain and death that he would see every single day. He wanted them to have everything that he knew he couldn't have. As long as they were happy, as long as they were safe, Dean was content.

He pushed himself up from his bed, tossing the research on his lap aside as he crossed the room towards the door, a curious frown on his face. His green eyes caught sight of the clock on the wall as he passed, 02:34am. That was never good. Knocking on the door at a time like that could only mean one of two things; either he was going to have to kill something, or something was going to kill him.

He pulled open the door and came face to face with the last person he had ever expected to see show up at his motel room door again; his little sister. He took a moment to work out that they were six states over from where she lived, it was the early hours of the morning and she had shown up without so much as a phone call, it sure as hell wasn't going to be good news. He almost didn't want to know.

"Sara." he said simply, more shock in his voice than anything else.

Dean looked her up and down slowly. She wore black jeans and boots with a light grey t-shirt, covered with a small black jacket that she held around herself, her arms folded tightly around her middle to shield herself from the cold wind behind her. She appeared blank at first, completely void of emotion, her blue eyes empty of anything that even resembled life. Her skin was pale against her black hair, she almost appeared like a ghost. But that wasn't what caught Dean's attention. It wasn't the utterly shattered look on her face that he could clearly identify behind the stoic front she had on, it wasn't the bloodshot red of her eyes or the dark circles beneath them. It wasn't even her split lip or the deep blue bruise around her left eye. What caught him off guard the most was the amount of true pain he could feel coming from her. Without her even speaking a single word to him, he could feel it. He could feel her despair in his own chest, deep within him, as though it was coming straight off her and hitting him where he stood.

"What's wrong?" he asked, the level of worry clear in his words. But she didn't give an answer.

She took a step into the room and straight into his arms, the unexpected force of it almost knocking him back a couple of steps. Her arms wrapped around his middle tightly as her hands gripped to the back of his shirt, like she was afraid to let go.

Slowly, once the initial shock had subsided, Dean brought up his arms to rest around her, matching her strong hold with his own strength. He could feel how stiff she was, pretty sure that she wasn't even breathing anymore, and that only meant one thing; she was fighting back her tears with everything she had in her.

"Sara?" Dean tried again, his voice softer, obviously concerned as to what was going on with her, about what had his youngest sibling so upset.

She didn't do anything at all for a moment, not moving or speaking, before she pulled back enough to face him. She pushed up a small smile through the tears that shone in her eyes. "Hey." she said lightly, more of a hushed whisper than anything else, he barely even heard it.

"Hey." Dean answered, nothing but lost. "Sara, what are you doing here?" he asked, studying her face for some kind of an answer. He brought back one of his hands to hold her chin gently between his finger and thumb, tilting her head back enough that he could get a better look at her face. "What happened to you?" he asked softly, frowning a little.

Sara took a step back from him, looking down at the floor. "I just fell." she muttered, not even sounding like she believed her own words.

"You just fell?" Dean repeated skeptically. He narrowed his eyes at her, she could tell that he was obviously not in the slightest bit convinced. "Sara," he pressed. "What happened to you?" She could hear the impatience in his tone, pretty sure that it was being spurred on by pure concern. "What the hell are you doing here, huh? Where's Brad?"

He knew his sister, and it wasn't like her to do anything like this, it hadn't been for years. She wouldn't have just walked out on her own husband in the middle of the night to see him without a good reason, especially without calling first. But then he thought, he couldn't remember that last time that she had called him. When she had first gone they were on the phone with each other all the time, whether that was her moaning about how she missed the life or hated her job, or him needing a second opinion on a case, it hadn't mattered. But in time, she had stopped being the one to call first. And then their conversations had become rushed, like she wasn't supposed to be talking to him at all, and he had never understood what had happened there.

Sara looked down for a moment and shrugged. "We're, uh," she paused, as though she was thinking what to tell him. "We're taking a break."

"A break?" Dean repeated incredulously. If he hadn't been skeptical before, he sure as hell was now. "For how long?"

She wet her lips, avoiding eye contact with him all together. "Permanently." she replied simply.

Dean raised his eyebrows at her quizzically. "And, does he know that you're taking this break? Or did you just leave in the middle of the night without saying so?" he asked lightly, trying to act like the whole situation wasn't giving him the dreaded feeling that it was. But when she didn't answer him, when she couldn't answer him, Dean knew. "Sara, what is going on? Tell me, please."

"I left him." she muttered, turning her back to him, unable to face him any longer. She didn't want to see the look on his face when it all clicked and he worked it out.

"What?" he frowned. "Why?"

It didn't make sense. The last time that he had seen them they had appeared to be nothing but happy. Too happy, almost. He remembered thinking at the time that it was a little strange how much his sister seemed to be acting like she wanted to convince him that she was happy with him. Normally, she would have been complaining about something or taking a playful dig at him, she never had a care in the world when Dean was around, but the last time he had seen her she had been so different. She hadn't been herself. And Dean had brushed it off and put it down to stress or the fact that she probably missed hunting, but now he wasn't so sure. It dawned on him, she wasn't happy.

"Is he," Dean paused, he didn't want to say it, he didn't even want to think it, but there it was. He needed to know. "Is he something to do with those bruises?" She didn't move a muscle at his question, she didn't turn to face him or defend her husband, she just stood there and faced the wall at the opposite side of the room. "Sara, did he hit you?"

For a moment, he thought that she was going to deny it, that he was going to have to fight a confession out of her, the way he usually would, but she just nodded. It was small and almost non-existent, but it was there, and Dean saw it. And he saw red.

"How long?" he pushed out the words through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to punch the wall in some attempt to let out the anger that ran through him. "How long has he been hitting you? I mean, was that the first time?" He prayed to god that she would say yes, but she didn't. She shook her head slowly. "How long?"

"Dean," she tried, in a way that was begging for him not to make her talk about it. But Dean didn't care anymore, he needed to know.

"Don't even attempt to change the subject here, Sara." he said bluntly. "And don't even dare try lying to me about this. Does he do this to you often?"

"No," she shook her head, speaking as though none of it was a big deal to her. "Not often."

Dean narrowed his eyes at her, frowning. "But this isn't the first time?" he pressed, to which she said nothing, just sighed in defeat. "How often does he hit you, Sara? What? Once a week? Once a month?" She could hear him getting worked up, his voice was raising with every word that left his mouth. "How often?!"

"Dean -" she tried again, but he wasn't having it. He wasn't taking lies or excuses. Not this time.

"Answer the damn question, Sara." he demanded, his tone turning harsh.

Sara finally managed to turn to him and meet his gaze, more out of shock than anything else, and clenched her jaw. She couldn't lie to him, she never had been able to lie to him. She didn't look upset, she didn't look angry or afraid, she just looked tired. "About a year." she whispered, her voice cracked at the words. "And you know what? I don't even know why he does it to me."

Dean's face went from angry to pure, unadulterated fury. "A year?!" He pulled a hand down his face before his hands dropped to his hips, shaking his head. "And you didn't think to pick up the friggin' phone and say something? He's been beating you for an entire year and you didn't think to speak up and leave him?!" he yelled, he was becoming madder by the second. "How stupid can you get, Sara?! He could have killed you!"

"Dean, please -" Tears shone in her eyes, he was the one person that she just couldn't take to be yelled at by. Anyone else she would stare in the face and brush it off, no matter what they said, but she had never been able to take Dean being angry at her.

"I'm gonna kill him." he thundered, his anger almost through the roof. "I'm gonna rip him apart, I swear."

"Dean -" she tried again, but he was too far gone to calm down.

"Why the hell would you stay there?" he asked, his voice lowering, almost sounding desperate for an answer, like he wanted to understand. His sister had never, ever, been someone who would let people push her around. He had never known anyone take a swing at her and not have one thrown back. He couldn't understand it. "Tell me."

Sara looked down, she didn't want to say it. "Because," she looked down and shook her head. "I loved him." she answered, her voice small, she almost sounded ashamed of herself for admitting it.

Dean scoffed. "Oh, you loved him?" he said incredulously, like it was the last thing he could ever believe.

"Yes," she snapped. "I did love him."

Dean shook his head, he looked angry again. "So why now, huh?" he pressed. "Why walk out now?"

"Because," she stopped herself before she could say anything more, the tears finally spilling over and falling down her cheeks. It was only then that Dean realised how much she was actually hurting, she looked terrified. "I'm pregnant, Dean." she whispered, her voice breaking over the words. "I found out yesterday."

His face completely changed at that. The colour completely drained from his face, leaving him a pale white shade. His green eyes slowly moved down from his face to her flat stomach, staring at her in disbelief.

"Does he know?" his voice was quiet, the level of shock almost stopping the words from coming out at all.

Sara shook her head slowly. "No," she murmured. "And he isn't going to know. I'm not having someone like him around a kid, Dean. Not a chance."

"And I'm not having someone like him around my sister." he countered, his tone once again turning defensive. "I meant what I said, Sara. He's gonna get what's coming to him. I promise you that."

"Dean, please," she almost begged him, taking a step forwards to grab his arm before he could even think to make a move anywhere. "Just, not tonight, okay? I need -" she stopped herself, shaking her head. But he knew what she meant.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." he said softly, nodding. "C'mere." With that he pulled her into a hug and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I've got you, I'm gonna look after you." he said gently, resting his chin to the top of her head. "Both of you." He tightened his arms around her, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay, promising without having to say another word that no one would ever lay a hand on her again. And she believed him because, for the first time in a long time, she felt safe.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean woke up the next morning, feeling far more exhausted than he had done when he had gone to bed. He had sat up with his sister until almost five in the morning, just listening to her as she told him about everything she had been through, until neither of them could take to talk about it anymore. He had eventually managed to will himself to sleep, but not for long. It had been one of those nights, his head was far too full of thoughts for him to be able to manage more than a couple of hours sleep. There wasn't a clear thought in his head, it was all a blur to him, just mixed up emotions of anger, sorrow, shock and grief. It was like he had been sleeping but not resting, his mind was too crammed full to ignore.

He rolled out of bed and dragged his feet towards the bathroom. The door was open, slightly ajar, the light shining through the small crack there. He pushed it open, thinking nothing of it, and came to an abrupt halt at the sight before him.

Sara was standing in front of the mirror, wearing just her jeans and a bar, appearing to be applying layers of make up to the bruise at her eye. He noticed that her back was covered in bruises, the same as both sides of her ribs and her front. There were bruises down her arms, some of them the shape of handprints. He couldn't help but wonder how many mornings she had spent covering marks up in the mirror before she left the house.

She jumped in shock at the sight of his reflection and quickly turned around, grabbing her shirt from the side of the sink and pulling it towards her. It was as though she was going to pull it on in a rush as if to hide everything that he had just seen, but she realised that it was too late to deny anything and dropped it back down.

"Sorry," Dean mumbled, shifting his weight. "Not used to having anyone here." he said lamely. "Otherwise I'd have knocked."

"Don't worry about it." she said simply.

His eyes were fixed on her stomach as she pulled her shirt over her head. There was only one thought in his mind, and it was making him madder and madder the more he had to worry about it. It was like he needed some relief, he needed to release the anger that was building up in him the more he thought about how each of those bruises had been put there.

"Have you been to see a doctor?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"What?" she asked, the question sparking a confused frown in his direction.

"Sara, you're pregnant." Dean stated simply. "Look at the state of your body, it's black and blue. You need to make sure that it - the kid.." he trailed off, shaking his head at a loss of how to word it. "You know.."

"I know." He could see by the look on her face that it was something that had been weighing on her mind. "It's just, I didn't want him to know. I just needed to leave, I needed to get away from him." she paused, a small sigh escaping her. "But -"

"But?" Dean cut her off, he couldn't listen to it. "Sara, there is no but." His eyes met hers, he could see without her saying it what she was thinking. "You cannot go back there, sis. Please, you can't."

"Dean -" she went to argue with him, but he wouldn't have it. He wasn't going to stand for it. Not a chance.

"He's using you for a friggin' punching bag, Sara." Dean snapped at her, his tone hard. "Why the hell would you even think about going back there?"

Sara looked down, not able to face him any longer. She had never let anyone walk all over like her husband had done. But this guy, he had been like a drug to her, something that she just couldn't walk away from. He was smooth, clever, manipulative - he knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew exactly how to make her stay. He could control her every movement. He could make her forget his anger, his power, the evil that lived deep down within him. Every single time he made her forget, and every single time she would stay.

"He's my husband, Dean. I'm pregnant with his child." She looked down, shaking her head as though she was ashamed of what she was saying. "I need him. I can't do it on my own."

Dean inwardly groaned. It hurt him so much to see her like that. It was like every ounce of strength that she had ever had in her had been beaten out of her. He had never seen her look so afraid of anything before.

"You left, Sara. You turned your back on him and walked away, keep it like that." he said simply. "Don't go back there, please. You're not alone here, alright? You've got me. You know that."

Sara looked up at him, he was right, she had left. It wasn't like it had been the first time she had thought to leave him, she'd had a thousand escape plans in mind in the past, but she had never been able to bring herself to do it before. She felt utterly powerless, as though she was locked away and trapped in jail for the rest of her life. She had walked straight in there of her own free will, but then he had locked the door and he had thrown away the key. And then she had found out about the baby and that had pushed her over the edge, she'd found some strength deep down inside her and she had gone back to dean.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Dean." she whispered, her voice broke a little at the words. "I don't know how to stop him, I don't know how to walk away, I'm just scared." Tears filled up in her eyes as she spoke. "I'm scared all the time, and I don't know what to do."

Dean shook his head slowly, his heart could have shattered right there at the utterly broken and helpless look in her watery blue eyes. He had never seen his sister look like that before. And he could only blame himself. He should have realised when things changed. He should have gone to see her weeks before, the second he noticed her change, he should have been there demanding answers. This guy had been slowly digging her grave for her, he had been taking the life right out of her, ripping away everything that made her who she was. He was forcing her to lie in her grave while he kept her there, prisoned by her own fear and the constant beatings that sparked it. And the times that she tried to get out, he slammed another nail down into the coffin, making it harder to escape.

"You have to stay away from him, Sara." Dean said quietly. "You need to stay away from him and start over, you can't look back."

"You don't understand, Dean." She finally looked up at him, tears spilling over and rolling down her cheeks. "I can't do this, I just can't."

"Then what?" he challenged. "What are you gonna do, Sara? Huh?" He was fast turning defensive, his tone was harsher than it needed to be and he knew it, but he needed to get through to her somehow. "What? Are you gonna go back there and live your life like that forever? Locked away from the rest of the word? He isn't going to stop it, sis, and deep down you know that. There's only three ways that this is going to stop; he dies, you die, or you stay the hell away from him."

"Dean," she sounded as though she was practically begging him to stop. "I can't."

"Then what's next? You have this kid with him? You bring a baby in to a house full of violence?" He stepped closer to her, looking down at her. "You're gonna let your child grow up watching it's Dad beat it's Mom? And then what happens when he turns on the kid? Because you know that he will." His voice was gradually rising with every point he made.

"He wouldn't do that." she snapped.

Dean scoffed. "Listen to yourself. I'll bet you there was a time you thought that he'd never raise a hand to you, right?" Sara looked down, unable to answer. "People like him don't change. It won't stop. And I won't have it, Sara. I won't let you live like that, and I won't let you take a child back into that. I'm begging you here," His voice softened as he rested his hands to her shoulders, lowering himself to look her directly in the eyes. "Please, stay away. Don't play his games anymore, play yours."

"Dean -" she, once again, went to argue with him, but just couldn't seem to find the words, as though she didn't even have a legitimate point to give.

"Listen to me," Dean said, his voice was so serious that she had no choice but to give him her full attention. "I will make you a promise right now that he will never, ever, touch you again. But I need you to do what I tell you." Sara thought about it for a moment, her eyes fixed on him, and then looked down, nodding silently. Dean sighed, feeling the relief wash over him, like he was finally getting through to her. "Then trust me here, I need you to hear me out."

He knew that this wasn't as simple as just walking out and staying away. This guy was capable of finding her, they both knew that. She had a life back there, she had a job and friends, people who would notice if she was to suddenly just walk out of town and vanish. The last thing that either of them needed was her face to show up on the news and the Feds treating her as a missing person. She needed to be gone, forever. And suddenly, with that thought, a whole new idea sparked to his mind.

"Alright," Sara nodded, finding her voice again. "What do we do?" she asked.

"Come on," he led the way out of the bathroom and into the next room, his sister right behind him. He grabbed a notepad from the nightstand beside the phone and ripped out a blank piece of paper at random. He placed it down on the table with a pen and looked up at her expectantly. "I need you to write a suicide note."

Her eyes went wide at the statement. "What?" she asked, confusion written all over her face.

"He won't stop, Sara." Dean said simply. "He won't stop until he finds you, and you know that he can. This is how you escape. Do it."

Sara reluctantly moved to sit down and picked up at the pen, staring down at the paper in front of her for a moment. There was a frown on her face as she looked up at him, still seeming confused. "What are you gonna do with it?"

"I'm gonna take it down to the beach near your place and leave it there, okay? I'll take your jacket, make sure your driver's licence is in the pocket, and leave it there. No one has to know, alright? If you're dead, no one's gonna ask questions, no one's gonna come looking for you." Sara just stared at him, saying nothing. "You understand me?" She still said nothing, seeming too deep in thought to answer. "Sara? Please, tell me you're hearing me."

Sara knew that he was right. There was no doubt in her mind that if she walked out on him he would come and find her. And hunters had a knowledge better than most in that department. He would eventually find her. With that thought in mind, she nodded slowly. "Yeah," she whispered. "I hear you."

Dean watched as she scribbled a few words down onto the piece of paper. She sighed and handed it back to him, still no emotion showing in her actions, before he folded it up and placed it into his back pocket. He took the pen and another piece of paper from her and scribbled down an address. "Okay, I need you to go to Sam. Stay there for a few days, I'll come get you in a few days. I promise."

"Wait," her face fell at his words. Somehow, it appeared as though the thought of telling Sam what was going on bothered her. "What?"

"You need to go." Dean clarified. "I'll sort everything out, I'll head down to your place today and make sure I leave everything where it's gonna get found. But you can't be there, you need to be safe."

"Dean -" she went to protest, he could see that it wasn't that part that bothered her. She pushed herself up to face him and shook her head.

"You know what he's capable of, Sara, better than anyone. He was a hunter, and you know as soon as you go missing he'll come and find me, I'll be the first place he looks for you. And when he does, I will deal with him. Give it a week, maybe two, and you've got my word, kid, I will come and get you. And we'll be just fine, alright? But until then, you go to Sam, he'll keep you safe. You need to believe me, this is how it's gonna work."

Sara pulled a hand down her face, wiping away her tears threatening to fall, and nodded slowly. "Okay." she whispered.

Dean managed a smile, resting a hand to her cheek for a second. "You're gonna be just fine, sis. I know it. Now go." She didn't move from where she stood, just stared at him. "Don't need to remind you how to steal a car, do I?" he added lightly.

A smile tugged at her lips. "Nah, I think I can manage" she said quietly. "I'll see you soon." He said nothing as she crossed the room towards the door. "Hey, Dean?" She paused, her fingertips rested on the door handle, and turned to face him. "Thank you for this."

"For what?" he asked, frowning.

"For getting me out." She looked down for a moment and took a breath. "You're the only one who cared enough to save me." Dean nodded, giving a small shrug as though it wasn't a big deal. "I love you, bro."

Dean gave a soft smile and crossed the room, he could see the fear clearly in her eyes, even if she did try to hide it. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." he told her as he placed his arms around her gently, trying to somehow sheild her from everything that was dark within her life. But there was something else in the closeness he held her with, some despiration to show her that he wasn't like the other people in her life, that he wasn't someone who would ever hurt her, that she could trust him, he was promising her that he was there with her, through all of it. "I'll fix this, okay?" he said softly, holding her tighter. "I promise you, I'll make this alright."

Sara just nodded, forcing a smile. "I know," she replied. "I trust you."

Dean placed a soft kiss to her forehead and stepped back. "I'll see you soon, Sara."


End file.
